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Special Venues: National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Jun 19, 2020

a museum, HOUSING AROUND 300000 WORKS

Founded in 1888, the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the oldest western-style cultural and scientific institution in the country. The idea of establishing a museum goes back to the mid-19th century, to a time when Bosnia and Herzegovina was still a part of the Ottoman Empire as the Eyalet of Bosnia. Yet it would take four decades and a change of government for the idea to be realised. In 1878, the Eyalet of Bosnia was occupied by the Austro-Hungarians, who brought with them new political and social goals, customs, and values. These included the furthering of science through research and academic and institutional development.

The original museum facilities in the town centre soon became inadequate for the growing collection, and so in 1909 construction began for a new museum complex comprising four pavilions and a botanic garden. The facility was completed and inaugurated in 1913. It would long remain the only purpose-built museum complex in the former Yugoslavia. It houses the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina to this day.

The National Museum Library is a specialised scientific library with around 300,000 volumes (books, magazines, newspapers). Work on its founding commenced with the establishment of the Museum Society in Sarajevo in 1884, when it was conceived as the first scientific library in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It started operations in 1888, and when the museum moved in 1913 to its new buildings, the library moved into its present-day facilities.